


Late Night

by androgynousclintbarton



Series: Tumblr Prompts [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 20:32:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6581119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/androgynousclintbarton/pseuds/androgynousclintbarton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint can't manage to sleep alone in bed, which isn't usually a problem for him since he has an amazing cuddly boyfriend to share a bed with. Tonight, though, Nick is a little too busy trying to do work to crawl into bed with Clint, and that's just not working for the archer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late Night

****

                Clint tossed and turned in bed, pulling the blanket with him every where he went and doing his best to bury himself deeper and deeper under the covers. A part of him hoped that if he shielded himself from everything, that the nightmares would go away and he could actually manage to get to sleep. The other, more rational, part of him knew that with Nick sitting in the kitchen over all of those files that he had to work on, Clint wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep that night.

                It wasn’t that he was dependent on Nick. He survived sleeping on missions (this was a lie) and there were times when Nick would get home really late because of work that he would fall asleep fine (also a lie). It was just that, he really needed Nick to fall asleep.

                The nightmares had been a part of his life for years, even before Nick and SHIELD took him in and gave him a chance to do better than what he was before. He was well aware of the fact that he hadn’t kept the best sleep schedule before, or even after SHIELD. It wasn’t until two years into his time as an agent, and a month into dating Nick, that he realized what he needed.

                Other people worked fine sometimes, and Natasha had gotten used to letting him share a bed with her on missions and lay his head on her stomach. Laura didn’t even mind sharing her wifes comfortable stomach if it meant that Clint could get some sleep on a mission. Jasper had sat in the same bed as him more than once, not cuddling Clint in the same way that Nick would, but running his fingers through his hair and letting him hid his face in his side while he slept. Phil and Melinda both let him sleep with his head on their lap, smiling fondly at the way that he curled up into himself when he shared a bed with them. However, no one was as effective as Nick at getting him to sleep.

                With Nick it felt more natural, like he belonged in that bed beside him with his arms firmly wrapped around Clint and holding him close. There was absolutely nothing that felt more right to Clint, and to be without that feeling at home, where he felt like he should always be able to cuddle with Nick, was a little annoying.

                He continued to toss and turn for another five minutes before his feet hit the floor, and he pushed himself out of bed. Nick’s old ranger’s shirt clung to his skin, drenched in sweat and clinging to his skin. Nick had gotten used to the fact that his shirt now pretty much belonged to his boyfriend, but he didn’t seem to mind as much as he used to. Whether it was because he got to see Clint roaming the house in his purple boxers and Nick’s shirt, or because there was a sense of possessiveness that came with seeing his boyfriend wear his shirt, Clint wasn’t sure. But he appreciated no longer having Nick roll his eyes when he stole the old Rangers shirt from his dresser.

                Slowly, Clint dragged his feet across the cold tiled floor of the bedroom and out into the living room. He was in the middle of rubbing his eyes when he caught a glimpse of Nick, hunched over the dinner table in his own set of pajamas and mumbling to himself about piss poor mission reports and all the work he had to do. Instead of interrupting his boyfriends train of thought, Clint opted to make his way over to the table and pull up a chair beside the other man. He was half way there when Nick reached out and started to pull the closest chair to his side, and Clint could tell that there was already a soft smile plastered across the other man’s face.

                “Expecting me?” He asked, his voice low and sleepy while he continued to walk towards the table.

                “I know you Clint, you can never sleep alone in bed,” Usually he would try to protest such a claim, but he was too busy falling down into the chair that Nick had provided for him and melting into the other man’s side. “Besides, I always appreciate the company.”

                “Mmmmm,” turning his face towards Nick, Clint did his best to bury it as far as he could into the soft fabric of the Falcon shirt that Nick was wearing “Dork.”

                “You love it and you know it,” the older man smirked, sneaking his arm around Clint’s shoulders and holding him close. When there was no answer from Clint, Nick shook his head fondly and chuckled, letting his eyes linger on the blond while he slept against his side. “Ya, I know.” he whispered, brigning his hand up to Clint’s hair and carding his fingers through the soft blond strands.

                He knew that he shouldn’t have wasted the five minutes that he did just sitting there and watching Clint sitting there sleeping with his face hidden in Nick’s shoulder, but what else could he do. Nick always appreciated those moments when he could see Clint with his guard down, content and happy while he slept in his arms. Every other moment of the day the blond was on edge, and fully alert of everything going on around him. To some people he came off as over sensitive and somewhat rude, but Nick, Natasha, Phil, Melinda and Jasper knew better. They knew the socially anxious man who wanted to do nothing more than hide away in the most remote part of a room that he was stuck in, and wait for someone that he got along well with to show up before he came down to talk.

                The Clint Barton that he got at home, happy and hyper and always looking for something to do, was a treat to see. It was fun and always made him laugh when the younger man did some of his goofier things, but Sleeping Clint was the best thing that Nick could ask for. The look of peace that came across the younger man’s face, the way that his shoulders fell, letting go off all of the stress of his day, and the way that he curled up into Nick’s side looking for as many cuddles as he could possibly get.

                It felt like a few hours that he sat there, just watching Clint as he slept against his side, but when he looked down at his watch he had to suppress a groan when he noticed that it had only been five minutes. With a groan, he let his eyes travel over the 10 files that he still had left over to read and sign before sending them off to filing, and decided that they could wait until tomorrow when he was back at work. It wasn’t his fault that there had been an influx of missions thanks to AIM, and he wasn’t going to risk missing anymore sleep and cuddles because of them.

                Closing the file that he had been working on, he looked over at Clint once more and smiled to himself. How he had managed to keep himself away from cuddles for this long, he didn’t know. But it was definitely time to get back to bed with his adorable blond and let the other man sleep in a bed, instead of propped up against him in a chair.


End file.
